


Respite

by mysk



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Drabble, F/F, Fluff, Long-Term Relationship(s), Post-Canon, Post-Time Skip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-10-01 18:53:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20371582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysk/pseuds/mysk
Summary: Her fiancee always looked so beautiful when she was at peace.





	Respite

**Author's Note:**

> Contains spoilers for Hilda and Marianne's post-credits epilogue blurb.
> 
> Written quickly at midnight on a whim because I was ironically feeling too sappy and romantic to sleep and just want to create more content of these two.

Hilda loved watching Marianne sleep. Not in the gross creepy stalker way, of course - they WERE engaged after all, so it was totally fine.

No, Hilda just loved to see her fiancee so... At peace. No one deserved moments of quiet tranquility more than Marianne. She was a woman who had spent her life so troubled, so burdened with the misfortune of her mere existence, and Hilda would never forget the dark circles always present under her eyes during their academy days. Back then, she was admittedly a lot more shallow; she cringed thinking back on how the 18 year old her only tended to think "shouldn't she be slapping some concealer on those?". But now almost a decade later, she knew the truth.

Marianne had admittedly already emotionally improved a lot by the time that the war had ended. She would bathe more, smile more, and the circles under her eyes faded more and more as the months went by. Hilda remembered her once quietly musing one night about how it just clicked with her one day - that she had to, at the very least, be strong for everyone around her. That no matter how hard it was to wake up every morning, for the first time in her life, she at least had hope worth fighting for. "I knew it couldn't cure me of my woes forever, and I knew that it could just be a fleeting dream I was foolishly tricking myself into as a selfish desire for happiness," she had whispered one night as they cuddled in bed together, still at the very early stages of their relationship. "But something told me that if nothing else, it was a sign from the Goddess to... Atone for the sin of my birth. And to show thanks to all of you for putting up with me." (Hilda distinctly remembered then rashly responding with "But you don't, like, think that anymore, right? Because you know you're the absolute best and we all love you, especially me?" to which her girlfriend had simply smiled and hugged her closer in response).

But even though she had begun to take better care of herself, a little more effort into self care couldn't permanently undo the trauma and self loathing that had been forced on her from a young age. The demons that plagued her soul usually came to torment her at night. When they had first started living together, Hilda noticed that even though she always tended to fall asleep before Marianne, she would still usually wake up to the sight of long, beautiful blue hair, belonging to a quiet woman reading a novel as she waited for her partner to awaken.

"I still struggle at night, admittedly," Marianne had sighed one morning when Hilda nagged her about why she never got to see what she looked like while asleep. "It can take me hours to fall asleep because I just can't take my mind off of things. And then I'll awaken early from nightmares." She then gave a small, melancholy smile, and finished by saying "But please don't worry about me, Hilda. I'm still getting more rest than I used to. And I know how to deal with it now."

It was true that it didn't seem to impact her daily functioning, at least - her daily work managing the finances of their jewelry store and coordinating their upcoming artisan academies were always carried out with such perfection that only a woman as sublime as herself could manage on five hours of sleep - but it still hurt Hilda to know that the love of her life would struggle forever thanks to horrible people who ostracized and shamed her for being born with something she couldn't control. She had become more sensitive and understanding to understanding trauma and depression as their relationship had gone on, so she hadn't said anything as stupid as 'Have you tried meditating and drinking warm milk before bed?' in years, but she still found herself so sad whenever she was abruptly woken up before sunrise to the sound of her fiancee gasping, sweat dripping down her back, startled by a nightmare that Hilda knew she would never truly understand but that she could only imagine was unbearable.

But then, there was the rare morning such as this one. Where Hilda would wake up to the sound of gentle breathing beside her, and see Marianne's cascade of blue locks draping over her tranquil, sleeping face. Her beautiful pink lips parted slightly, her body so still aside from the gentle rise of her inhaling, and just how... Well rested she looked. Hilda didn't have a more eloquent way of thinking it, or an explanation of why it meant so much to her. But just knowing that her love was going to wake up with newfound energy, without any lingering memories of nightmares flashing in her mind throughout their workday, just filled Hilda with so much joy.

The sun was rising, and the light shining in from the window hit Marianne's face perfectly, accenting her smooth complexion and creating a soft halo around her fitting for a woman so angelic as herself. The sight of such beauty made Hilda beam and blush like she was a teenager in love again. Her love looked like a princess out of a storybook. She was so proud of how far Marianne had come. Her hair was clean, her skin was washed, she was the cofounder of an already prestigious jewelry business, and most of all, she had learned how to both accept and reciprocate love.

It was a little selfish, but Hilda couldn't help but appreciate that part the most. Without it, Marianne wouldn't be laying beside her now, wearing a matching nightdress and the engagement ring that Hilda had designed and crafted specifically for her.

Unable to help herself, she found herself gently stroking her fiancee's cheek, appreciating just how soft her skin was, cupping her face as if it was the entire world in her hands. At this, Marianne's dark eyes began to flutter open. Flustered at herself for being so careless, Hilda quickly retracted her hand and mumbled "Sorry, sorry hun!".

"Nn... Hilda?" the blue haired woman started sleepily, still not fully conscious. "Is something... The matter?"

"Uhh, nope, sorry! Just got a bit fidgety. Didn't mean to wake you up."

Hoping to maybe achieve some sort of reverse-fairytale-wake-up-kiss-of-true-love, Hilda gently brushed her partner's bangs off of her forehead, and planted a gentle kiss on it. "You get some more sleep, okay? It's our day off. I'll make breakfast for when you wake up."

Marianne simply made a small sound of agreement before effortlessly falling back to sleep. Hilda smiled and began to carefully get out of bed, hoping not to disturb her further.

In retrospect, Marianne hadn't been the only one who had changed, who had improved. The Hilda of nine years ago would have never imagined waking up at sunrise to cook for her significant other.

But if Marianne could work so hard every day to push through and survive in the face of a world that wished she'd perish simply for the blood she bore, then Hilda could force herself to sometimes make pastries and tea for the two of them to enjoy their morning together with.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to both write something about how Hilda just loves Marianne so much, but also reflect on how much Marianne's situation truly did improve over the timeskip, and how strong she is for doing so. She's honestly a very nice symbol for those of us struggling with mental illness on how healing is a hard and strenuous process, but it truly is possible, little by little.
> 
> I am very sleepy and unsure if this is even coherent, so I'm expecting to wake up and reread this whole thing and not have a clue what I was even going for lol


End file.
